In The Background
by amaXdear
Summary: Twenty-five facts about Thomas B. Collins the world at large doesn't know.


**This fic is based off of Stage Presence and Close Up, by Elizabeth Odessky, and Street Corners, by Det. Flawless. I had to do one about Collins, because I heart him. I echo both of those lovely ladies by saying: **_Any of these facts can be used as a prompt so long as you credit (both myself and Elizabeth Odessky and Det. Flawless) and let me know in a PM."_

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i. Collins does not wear a "beanie." He wears a _kufi_. A kufi is a symbol of religious faith or African heritage. Collins' grandfather, who died when he was six years old, wore one every day. When Collins was thirteen, he wanted to learn more about his family and started wearing a kufi out of respect for his memory.

ii. Collins' parents divorced when he was nine years old. He has two older sisters, and an older brother, and his mother got custody of all of them. His father moved to Europe, so his grandma moved in to help her daughter take care of them.

iii. Collins has never had sex with a woman. In fact, he has never done more than kissed a woman.

iv. Maureen had a crush on him in high school. She was the first and last girl he ever kissed.

v. Until he met Angel, Collins was never in love with anybody in his life. People had been in love with him and he assumed he loved them back, but then he realized that he had never even come close.

vi. Collins _can_ cook. None of his friends believe him, but his dreams of opening a restaurant weren't just random ideas. If he really wanted to, he could do it.

vii. His middle name is Benjamin. Once he met Benny, he legally changed it to the letter B instead.

viii. He started going by his last name in high school after reading Uncle Tom's Cabin. In the book, Tom was a noble, dedicated religious man who maintained his dignity even when he was treated cruelly. Collins didn't want to be associated with a person who refused to stand up for themselves. He preferred the George character, who fought and struggled his way to freedom.

ix. Collins was, indeed, afraid to say 'I love you,' to Angel. It took him three tries. First, he said it too quietly at the Life Café and she didn't even look at him. Secondly, they were in bed one morning, he said her name, and she was looking at him so sweetly that he chickened out and asked if she wanted to go out for breakfast instead. When he actually got it out, it was a complete accident. They were both drunk, and Angel said happily, "I love vodka." Collins replied, "Yeah, but I love you more." It was very cheesy, and all of their friends laughed at him.

x. Allen Ginsberg scares Collins, despite what he may claim in song. His poetry is very depressing, and some of it is borderline pornographic. Collins prefers Maya Angelou.

xi. Collins has a bizarre fetish for Angel in thongs. Particularly purple ones.

xii. Collins was voluntarily homeless for a month. He heard a theory that one who gave up everything could found happiness, and wanted to test the theory himself. It was squatting in the worst part of Alphabet City where he met Rob, the man who gave him HIV.

xiii. If Angel had said at any moment that she wanted to adopt, Collins would have agreed in a heartbeat. He loves kids, and he is upset by the fact that he can't afford to visit his nieces or nephews more often. He gave up on being a parent the moment Angel died. If he couldn't take care of a grown man, there was no way he could take care of a child.

xiv. Collins learned Spanish from his first "official" boyfriend in college. His mother couldn't speak English, and Collins wanted to make a good first impression.

xv. Collins had been to three funerals before Angel's: his grandfather's, his grandmother's, and Rob's. He hadn't cried at any of them.

xvi. Every night before he fell asleep, Collins made a small note about how many times he had kissed Angel that day. They passed one thousand within two months. Once, they had gotten into a fight about something stupid (no one can remember what it was), and Angel had found the tally. She cried, and the fight was over.

xvii. Collins stopped eating meat when he read The Jungle in eighth grade.

xviii. There is a scar on Collins' stomach. He always refused to tell people where it was from, until Angel asked. When he first started working at MIT, he had been in an abusive relationship and his boyfriend stabbed him. Five months later, he had been fired and moved to New York, swearing that he would never date again. That didn't work out so well.

xix. Collins carries Angel's drumsticks everywhere. When Angel was alive, they would sit together and he would trace up and down her thighs when he was thinking. The sticks are a poor substitute, but he can't get out of the habit. Sometimes his students ask him about them, but he just smiles and asks them to guess. One girl almost got it right.

xx. Collins was never afraid of death, but now he is. He's seen what happened to his friends when Angel left, and he knows that it will be just as bad when he dies. He's afraid that he and Angel will only be able to watch as they fall apart, or worse--that Angel won't be there. That death is just the end.

xxi. Collins considered suicide the night before he left New York. He was drunk, and he had a vision of Angel. She had her hands on her hip, and she was yelling at him, saying that if he ever tried she would never speak to him again. Obviously, he paid attention. The risk was just too great.

xxii. One drunken night, Collins somehow thought it was a good idea to get a pair of angel wings tattooed on his heart. The next morning, the rest of the gang found out and he almost went to get it removed that very moment. Angel, choking back tears of laughter, begged him not to. Somehow he never got around to it.

xxiii. He met Mark and Roger in high school. Collins was a junior and they were freshmen. They were lost, and had wandered into the senior courtyard. Collins managed to snatch them out before they got beat up, and the two were eternally grateful.

xxiv. Collins was born on December third, 1964. His star sign is Sagittarius. He never got to share a birthday with Angel, though he did throw an elaborate birthday party for her. It involved streamers, a pet rock, quesadillas, and several semi-pornographic movies.

xxv. If he had his life to live over, Collins wouldn't do anything differently, except when it came to Angel. He would have said 'I love you' the first night he met her, introduced her to his family on their sixth-month anniversary, and taken her to the hospital a week earlier.


End file.
